Sunday, June 1, 2025

Short Story: The Longest Science Fiction Story Ever Told

"The Longest Science Fiction Story Ever Told" by Arthur C. Clarke as published in The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF

Quotes: 

Better luck next time!

 Sincerely,

Morris K. Mobius

Editor, Stupefying Stories


Synopsis:

There's not much to synopsize. The biographical blurb for the author is longer than the story itself. It's a recursive series translated into prose. So, a math joke. It's basically a repeating rejection letter.


Thoughts:

As a joke, it kinda falls flat for me. Maybe for someone super into math it would get a bigger laugh. Or any laugh at all. I've read other Clarke stories, and I have to say after reading them I never really thought of him as a humor writer. This story does nothing to change that. I have enjoyed other stories he's written, they were just, if not humorless, very light on the humor. 

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